Over the last few months, I have been trying my best to retrain Zeke. When he was a pup, he thrived on praise training. He could care less about food, and despite my attempt at treat training, he did much better with praise. He was wonderfully focused on me throughout training sessions, and he literally taught himself to off-leash heel. We battled some separation anxiety issues, and he was always quite timid despite careful socialization. Puppyhood hit him and slowly his attention span began to grow shorter and shorter. Training became harder. I gave him some time off, and hoped neutering would help some. Now two years old, we've been trying again at his training. It's difficult because his attention span is almost non-existant. I took it very easy at the start with the basics--sit, down, stay, etc. He would do these on command just fine, but I started with these anyway. Once again, I tried clicker training. He had no interest in food still. I tried a variety of different treats and foods, but to no avail. I actually had to teach him that food was a reward. I praised him when he paid attention long enough to finish a tiny treat. This was a breakthrough in training, but still he didn't do well with it. Since he LOVES to play fetch, I switched to rewarding him with the ball. He had a big breakthrough with this, and his training has been going well. He didn't take an interest in fetching toys until we got Mud, which is why I never tried to reward him with toys before.
Anyway, despite the fact that his training is slowly but surely improving, I simply don't have time for him. He came from working stock, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Many dogs from working stock can be perfectly happy dogs with plenty of exercise, play, and training. Zeke's not one of them. When I get the chance, I do a few agility exercises with him because he loves it. He would make an excellent agility, flyball, or herding dog. He needs a job, which I can't give him. We can run and play and train until both of us are worn out, but he's still not happy. He wants a job; he wants to work. So, I've come to the conclusion that I need to find my boy a working home. I hate to give him up, but I know that he would be much happier if he had a job. So, my home will soon be one dog less. Mud will miss him terribly...once stock show season is over and things slow down, I might start looking for a Border Collie pup. I'm not sure yet. Right now my main concern is just finding Zeke a good home.
Anyway, despite the fact that his training is slowly but surely improving, I simply don't have time for him. He came from working stock, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Many dogs from working stock can be perfectly happy dogs with plenty of exercise, play, and training. Zeke's not one of them. When I get the chance, I do a few agility exercises with him because he loves it. He would make an excellent agility, flyball, or herding dog. He needs a job, which I can't give him. We can run and play and train until both of us are worn out, but he's still not happy. He wants a job; he wants to work. So, I've come to the conclusion that I need to find my boy a working home. I hate to give him up, but I know that he would be much happier if he had a job. So, my home will soon be one dog less. Mud will miss him terribly...once stock show season is over and things slow down, I might start looking for a Border Collie pup. I'm not sure yet. Right now my main concern is just finding Zeke a good home.
How many dogs do you have tx_cowgirl?
